Kentucky Derby: Should You Order a Mint Julep?

This weekend, if you're anywhere near Kentucky, or anywhere near a group of people who care about horse racing for this weekend (and this weekend only), you're likely to come across the sweet mixture of sugar, mint, ice, and bourbon known as the Julep. But what about this classic American drink makes it southern? That's what we wanted to know, so we asked Esquire's resident cocktail historian, David Wondrich. He explained that, well, the julep's not really a Derby-owned drink at all; it doesn't even have to be made with Kentucky bourbon. That said, it's a damn good drink. Or it can be. If you do it right. Here's how, plus the reason you might consider sticking to straight whiskey if you find yourself on the Great Lawn this weekend.

Esquire: Can you explain what makes the Mint Julep an American classic?

David Wondrich: It's the first real American drink. Even before the cocktail, the julep was a popular mixed drink. It was the first one to really popularize using ice, too, and the other reason is that, when made right, it's really great.

ESQ: Is it often made right?

DW: No. Almost never, in fact. And that's the problem.

ESQ: What are we all doing wrong?

DW: You're not using enough ice. Or you're using skanky mint syrup instead of using actual fresh mint. And if you are using fresh mint, you're mashing it up until it's total mush. If you macerate the mint too much, you know, it becomes bitter.

ESQ: So I guess we shouldn't even get into the to-go ones at the Kentucky Derby?

DW: Those are notoriously bad, with that artificial-tasting mint syrup. Listen, making juleps is hard. It's got a lot of steps, and there's a certain procedure you have to follow. I've done them for events before, and it's really not something to try to produce in any sort of [high] volume.

ESQ: Since you've done this before, can we have some pointers?

DW: I usually do them four at a time. You put the sugar, or sugar syrup, in the bottom of the glass. Add six leaves of mint to each, and press it really lightly. Then you need shaved or cracked ice — I use a canvas bag with a huge mallet to do that — and you want to pack the glass with it. I, myself, happen to like cognac in my juleps, which is the pre-Civil War version, and you just want two-and-a-half ounces. Then you pack it with even more ice, because the ice will settle after you stir it. You can even pack the ice so it mounds on top. Add some fragrant, dark rum, something good and rich, then five or six sprigs of mint.

ESQ: And don't macerate the mint?

DW: No, no. Just a light press of the mint into the sugar syrup. Too much and it gets overpowering. You just want the fragrance of the mint, and a little taste of it.

ESQ: So what should I order if I'm at the Derby?

DW: Whiskey straight? It's hard to screw that up. But, actually, I would suggest that people drink the Derby Julep and just say the hell with it. Just realize it's not a real julep. That's what I would do. It's the custom of the country.

ESQ: Why is the drink so connected to the Derby, anyway?

DW: I don't think it goes to the early days, actually. It came with increased southern nostalgia, that whole cult of the julep as the southern drink of identity. That kind of came late in the 19th century, because as late as 1900, the julep was a standard bar drink everywhere. They sold more in New York probably than in Kentucky. But after the prohibition years, sometime in the 1930s or 1940s, the julep was made the official drink of the Derby. The drink and the race weren't born together, it just became [an equation] where southern icon plus southern icon equals Kentucky icon.

ESQ: It's not like the Kentucky one, with bourbon, is the right one.

DW: Nope. Each state had its own julep. There was the Maryland one, which used rye, and the Georgia Julep, which used peach brandy. That's not the peach liqueur we use now, it was a brandy made with the real fruit. You can't get that anymore. But there were all kinds of juleps that didn't use whiskey. Me? My favorite is still using nice XO cognac. Because I can.

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